


The American Hairforce

by orphan_account



Series: In New York [1]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Eventual Smut, M/M, Please Kill Me, This is gonna be rlly long ngl, did i mention everyone has diff hair now, everyone is hella gay, fuck me up, hairdresser au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-10-11 00:16:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10450719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: "Mon dieu, of course it's boring doing the same thing everyday! I just want something to change, something nouveau, passionnant! Don't you agree, non?"John clasped onto his cup of coffee tighter, looking out onto the road. A light sigh escaped from his lips."I think we all need a little change in our lives."-----Lafayette's only pride and joy is a hairdresser's shop he owns. Months and months pass on by, and Lafayette wonders if anything really is going to change from the usual mundane tasks. Yet, in comes Hercules Mulligan, looking for work and a place to stay and suddenly adventure arrives at his fingertips...// On hiatus. See profile for notes why.//





	1. Changing Course

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies if the french is wrong, I had to look at some online translations. Although I do know some french, unfortunately I don't know any 'bad words', so forgive me.
> 
> Edit: French Meanings Added:  
> Un emmerdeur = Pain in the neck.  
> J'en ai plus rien à foutre = I don't care anymore.  
> J'en ai ral le cul = I am fed up with this shit.  
> Gratuit = Free.

Lafayette swept up the last pieces of hair that were cluttered onto the floor from his latest customer, before leaping onto his phone which lay on the stone counter. He swiped to see his latest instagram feed, liking the first few aesthetic pictures that came up before the bell above the door rang gently and he was off to work again. That was Lafayette's usual routine, and not much differed from that.

Of course, each customer had their own story to tell when they came in, and some were in fact quite bizarre- so bizarre that Lafayette had to go take a break in the back for a bit before recovering- but all the while quite entertaining. Lafayette was pretty sure he had memorised most of them by now, mainly the ones of the regulars that came in. He didn't find it annoying however, in fact quite the opposite. He found it interesting listening to other people's gossip and trying to give everyone advice. That was what Lafayette was known for after all, his advice. Of course, his impeccable hair skills was quite all the rage too, but more so his other skill.

"Excuse me! I said I'd have a trim please." The man seated in front of him scowled, and Lafayette quickened himself, cutting as neatly and as quickly as he could. He almost nearly cut a part of the man's ear off but luckily narrowly missed, and began to slow down a bit in order to not make a similar mistake.

" _Pardon_ Monsieur Reynolds, I was just thinking." Lafayette replied politely, before bringing a mirror to show Mr Reynolds the back of his hair. "Besides, _j'ai fini._ Ten dollars _s'il vous plaît?"_

Reynolds grimaced, getting up as Lafayette took the cutting gown off him. He fumbled around with his wallet a bit, whilst muttering crudely under his breath.

Lafayette pretended not to hear as he pulled out a crisp ten dollar bill. Then he hurriedly went on his way, almost knocking over another guy incoming through the door. When the person noticed Lafayette's sour look on his face, he burst out laughing.

"What's up Laf? Why the grim look?" John beamed as he casually strolled in, making sure the bell was rung extra loudly. Thankfully, it wasn't another customer. Lafayette wasn't sure how much more he could take of this. All at once, his insults came hurling out as quick as he could manage say them.

"Reynolds! _Ç'est un emmerdeur!_ The man does not know how to be patient, _mon dieu!"_ Lafayette hissed, practically smacking the broom he was holding into the ground aggressively with every few breaths. _"J'en ai plus rien à foutre, j'en ai ral le cul..."_

"Laf, Laf! Calm down man, Reynolds has always got a stick up his ass anyway. Look, close up shop for a moment, and we'll go get a drink or something alright? You look like you need a break. Time to cool off."

 _"Vrai."_ Lafayette nodded. "Anything to get away from that-"

John gave him a disapproving look, and Lafayette made a mental note to shush himself. John continued.

"I've just got to go to the loo and all, you pack up the store. I'll be five minutes max. We'll meet at the Starbucks across from yours." John said, before rushing out of the shop, the door slamming back into place. Lafayette took in a deep breath and immediately went to turn the sign on the store around so it displayed the word "Closed" upon it. He grabbed his phone, wallet and keys, checked himself out in the mirror and started to head off, but not before giving the place one last quick look. Despite being sort of sick of it, the place had held so many memories that were precious to Lafayette and he knew he really didn't want to let go of that.

He remembered the first time he had gotten it as a present from Washington. Not exactly all from Washington of course, but he had donated some money to Lafayette in hopes he would someday buy it. And when the day of the grand opening came, and when he cut that glorious red ribbon and he looked over to George he could see the pride physically rising within him, and Lafayette had never felt more happier on that day. In the first starting weeks, a lot of Lafayette's friends came, sometimes from different countries, just to help unpack all of the new equipment that would be in there. He remembered their sweet words, how John patted him on the back and told him how far he had come to finally get his own place and—

Now he was here. Lafayette had made it. He took what was once impossible, what seemed like a shit ton of money became affordable, and here he was. Pride was not the word he was looking for.

When he had walked across the street to Starbucks, John was already sitting at an outside table with their two drinks. He wasn't paying attention though, for John had his sketchbook out and was doodling a nearby Robin perched in the tree. He didn't even hear Lafayette dramatically take a chair out and kick his feet onto the table.

"So then, _mon ami,_ how are you?" Laf asked first only to see John wasn't gracing him with a response. Lafayette scoffed, thinking about how weird Americans were and opened up instagram again, clicking on John's page. John didn't post many pictures of himself, and if he did then it was usually because he was out drinking. Lots of his were comprised of his own drawings of nature.

"John, I swear you have drawn this bird already. Ah, see? Here." Laf said, selecting a picture from three weeks ago and pointing at it. "What is the point of doing it again?"

"Just because it's the same species doesn't mean it's the same animal, Laf. Like, this could just be another robin from another bird mom— y'know?" John huffed, not taking his eyes off the page. 

"Still. I would find it a bit boring." Lafayette replied, taking a sip of his drink. The flavour instantly burst into his mouth, and he sighed contently at the swirl of colours rising in his mouth.

"And what about you? You keep complaining to me that your work is boring?" John asked, but Lafayette waved it off.

"That's because it's true. But it's not like I can do anything to change it."

John pursed his lips together. "I think you're exaggerating a bit Laf. It can't be that boring."

Lafayette got a bit annoyed at John's comment. John really didn't know what it was like to be cooped up inside most of the time because unlike Lafayette, John was a privileged fucker. Not exactly, but John had more opportunities presented to him than Lafayette could ever bargain for. He rose his voice a little.

"Mon dieu, of course it's boring doing the same thing everyday! I just want something to change, something nouveau, passionnant! Don't you agree, non?"

John kept quiet, taking another sip. Lafayette was starting to get worried he had upset his friend, until once again he spoke.

"Get a new job?" John offered, but Lafayette disagreed.

"I'm not giving up on 'The American Hairforce', you know I can't."

The two still laughed at that name. It was a result of one of their drunken nights out, where the two played drunk scrabble _("John, I don't even fully know English but I don't think 'sploop' counts as a word")_ and spent some of their time working on patriotic puns. That was a pretty great night too actually, Laf thought, before the other man perked up.

John clasped onto his cup of coffee tighter, looking out onto the road. A light sigh escaped from his lips.

"I think we all need a little change in our lives."

"You?" Lafayette looked at John curiously. John Laurens' life was definitely far from boring. The man was free to travel about, he didn't even have to go to work constantly. Besides, John Laurens was so filthy rich he could practically go anywhere he wanted to, but he stayed in New York for some odd reason. If Lafayette was like John, then he'd for sure take private jet trips to and from France frequently.

"Actually, I have been thinking of contacting my father." John commented much to Laf's surprise. Usually, John Laurens would have hated to mention his father, despite so fondly looking up to him and asking for advice. Now, he was actually willing to seek him out and it just seemed so... _suspicious._

"He's no good Laurens! You're better off leaving him in the dark!" Lafayette insisted, but John seemed to disagree.

"If there's anything that will guarantee me change, it's my father. He has been supportive of me.."

Lafayette choked on his straw at that last part. "Are you kidding me? _Merde,_ John, he is anything but that."

"If we are pushing aside the homophobia, yeah, he has been supportive." John firmly said, having stopped drawing now. 

The two sat there, uneasily. Talking about such a topic in public wasn't a good idea. There was a thick layer of tension, and so Lafayette quickly concluded to change the subject as soon as possible.

"Hey, John? Do you think I'll get _un amour_ soon?"

John sat upright, giving Lafayette a good long stare. After a bit of thought, he nodded. 

"Well, you've certainly got the looks."

Lafayette grinned, twirling a loose hair with one hand whilst giving John a _'please continue!'_ look.

"I know I do. So why is it I don't have anyone yet?"

John shrugged, taking a sip of his own coffee. "Maybe it's cuz your personality is shit— ow!"

Lafayette kicked John hard under the table. John rubbed his leg in pain, whilst Lafayette had a huge smile on his face.

"Right right, like yours is any better."

John had a playful smile on his face as he began to put his stuff away, yet Lafayette couldn't shake the feeling that he had done wrong earlier when he had previously mentioned why his father was terrible.

John's voice broke Lafayette's train of thought.

"Thanks for the talk Laf. I really needed that."

Lafayette smiled, enveloping John in a small hug. "Anytime, mon ami. However I do believe I needed this more than you."

The two shared a laugh, before waving goodbye and going on their separate ways.

Only just having crossed the street, Lafayette felt a soft buzzing from his pocket. He took out his phone and read the latest text message.

Turtlefucker  
  
**Today** 2:15 AM  
thanks man for the talk  
  
I wish I could have said more.  
  


Lafayette shot back a reply as soon as he read the two lines. Whatever happened, John was clearly feeling under the weather, and Lafayette now had to show as much support as possible to his friend. It was only right.

you can talk to me anytime <3  
  
**Today** 2:19 AM  
thanks man. Ly  
  


Lafayette slid the phone back into his pocket and took out his keys to the hairdressers to unlock them. The door opened with a click, only to be shut again as Lafayette gave a tired sigh. Although it was only about one in the afternoon, he wasn't really feeling like doing anything today. If he had the choice to, he would have went to bed and watched Netflix, but since that wasn't happening Lafayette regretfully opened the shop, and no more than two seconds later the door instantly swung open. Lafayette caught the door as it practically smacked him against the wall, before closing it to reveal a young man who looked about the place excitedly. 

Heck, the place wasn't even open yet for more than a minute and already he had another customer.

 _"Excusez-moi?"_ Lafayette asked, capturing the attention of the man. "How may I assist you?"

The man beamed, holding out his hand. Lafayette looked at it awkwardly— he hadn't been offered somebody's hand before. He was about to kiss it politely but decided it could come across as a little weird so he shook it warm-heartedly instead.

"I'm Alexander Hamilton, sir! I came across this place from a friend, and I decided to check it out. I needed a place to cut my hair."

 _Friend?_ Lafayette casually thought, thinking about who it may have been but realised it would be too much effort to work out who.

 _"Voulez-vous rafraîchir les pointes?"_ He asked instead, and Alex nodded his head enthusiastically. He wasn't entirely sure if Alex understood what he just said, but went along with it anyway. It was probably a bad decision, but he moved on.

"Since you are _un nouveau client,_ it'll be on the house. Just this once." Lafayette winked, Alex's eyes widening.

"Oh no sir, I couldn't!" He smiled. "It wouldn't be fair, so I insist that I must pay up! It could be seen as unfair treatment, and I wouldn't want you being caught for something like that."

"Are you sure?" Laf asked, half in disbelief. This was due to the fact that, he would have thought anyone would have taken it for free.

"I'm sure. Otherwise that's not being fair. Besides, I'd feel guilty if I don't." Alex said, and Lafayette had a big smile as he set his new friend down and put a new cutting gown on him. He took the man's ponytail out, picked up his usual metal pair of scissors and instantly went to work, the cut hair floating gently towards the ground. With every snip, he could see that Alex visibily tensed up, and so he put his hand reassuringly on his shoulder.

"Oh _pardon,_ was I perhaps going to fast for you? Don't worry— I won't cut your skin or anything."

Alex didn't relax, but he managed to try settle down for Lafayette.

"It's fine, I wasn't worried."

Lafayette couldn't help but think the man was just trying to be brave as he danced the scissors on his hair. Of course he wasn't going to point this out to his new customer, so instead he continued working at a steady pace.

"Aaron Burr showed me this place," Alex said, eyes gleaming. "I met him just outside Starbucks, he said you were great at haircuts! And then, here I am."

Lafayette paused. "Aaron Burr? Ah _oui,_ he's meant to have an appointment in fifteen minutes. Perhaps he wanted to look around first before getting it done."

"Burr seems to be a good man. We talked for a bit about politics— I'm studying the law you see, but in the meantime I'm an author. I tend to write factual ones though, not really any stories. Not to say I don't write stories. I just write them in my spare time, never published them. But yeah, I guess I would like to be a lawyer more than anything."

Lafayette hummed in agreement. "That's nice."

The two shared a comfortable silence. That was until Alexander started conversation after conversation, mainly just talking about his own life. A quick summary of what he had learnt so far was that he had learnt that Alex was an orphan, and came from Charlestown, Nevis. The people there had seen his extraordinary talent he possessed and started to raise money just to send the kid a better education. From there, he kept reading and writing, practising and enhancing his skills until finally he made it to where he was today. 

There were two things Lafayette learnt about Alexander's personality: he was amazingly talented at writing and gifted in the art of  _non-stop talking._ He never seemed to stop for a single breath, words just flowing endlessly. When Lafayette was done, the man was still talking, and their cutting time had gone on for an extra ten whole minutes. But he didn't want Alexander to stop talking. He just had so many stories to share, so many adventures.

If only his life could be that intriguing.

"How much was it again sir?" Alex questioned as Lafayette tidied away the area around him.

"Hmm? Ah,  _ç'est gratuit."_

Alex seemed to be pleased at this, putting away his wallet gleefully. Of course, everyone likes free stuff. It was only a part of their nature.

"Well then, I'll meet you again mister...."

He paused unsurely, before the sudden realisation dawned upon him.

"Oh! Forgive me sir, what's your name? I was in such a rush and I got so ahead of myself I didn't bother asking."

Lafayette smirked.  _Wrong move._  He cleared his throat, clearly articulating the syllables.

"Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette."

Alex seemed to falter at once, the joyful smile wiped off his face instantaneously. "O-Oh... okay... erm.. Marie..?"

"My friends know me as Lafayette." He said, offering Alex a hand so that he could get up. He took it gratefully.

"I don't imagine anyone could try memorising the whole thing."

"Challenge accepted." Alex told him, before he went on towards the exit. "I'll have your whole name memorised before you can say my own."

"I'll be looking forward to hearing that." Lafayette mused, as Alex flashed him a quick grin and left, rushing down the street. He left in such a hurry that he didn't even properly close the door, and Lafayette shut it for him. When Lafayette walked back to the area he was working in, he noticed a little black elastic hair band lying there. Picking it up, he inspected it. Definitely wasn't his, it was way too stretched out to be any use for Lafayette. Plus he only had the real good qualiy ones, which led to only one viable option.

"Alexander Hamilton." he whispered to himself, before cracking up a smile.

A name that would soon be engraved into his mind.


	2. Lead The Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You text to get rid of your problems, but your problems will always come back to you. A temporarily solution is as it is stated - it's temporary. Nothing lasts forever, and Lafayette knows this more than anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Language notes:  
> Ferme ta bouche = Shut up.  
> Chut toi-même = Don't you shush me.  
> Mon allié = My ally.  
> Je n'ai pas d'argent sur moi = I don't have any money on me.  
> Casse toi = Go away.  
> 

He wasn't wrong.

As the days went by, Alexander and him began to talk more and more frequently, whilst Lafayette's friendship with John gradually deteriorated over time.

It wasn't that he didn't like John anymore or John didn't like him, it was rather more the fact that they had just simply fallen out of touch.

Thinking about it, it was also the fact that John usually didn't reply to texts overall, leaving them until last minute to look at. For example, if Lafayette invited John to go out with him to the bar, he probably would only get a response four hours later. And it'd usually be just _'K'._

But with Alexander, if Lafayette sent one simple sentence like that the man would instantly reply and type about three paragraphs in response to Lafayette. He'd ask loads of questions, never waiting for Lafayette to reply and just kept going and it was a wonder how he managed to think that quickly.

"I don't think about it too much," Alex chuckled when asked about it. "I'll say exactly what's on my mind and make sure every little detail is stated."

 _"Pourquoi?"_  asked Lafayette, perhaps a little too forcefully. "There's no need."

Alex didn't seem to agree with this statement.

"Think about it this way," he started, "if I don't clarify something then someone out there is going to take it the wrong way."

"That sounds like something Burr would say." smirked Lafayette before Alex snorted, objecting at once.

"Burr takes his time, that's where we are different. He always waits, whereas I don't because I'm impatient."

"I can tell."

Alex gave a small grin as he downed his drink. In his haste, he ended up downing it too quickly, spluttering and coughing on the drink whilst Lafayette teased him. Alex gave him a scowl, shoving his drink down the table.

Lafayette took the opportunity.

"Someone's definitely thirsty— in more ways than one."

Alex gave him a pointed look, before exaggeratedly turning up his nose and looked away.

"Somebody definitely seems jealous that I get more action than them."

Lafayette scoffed. "Said the man who doesn't have a girlfriend."

"I don't need a girlfriend to get action, you just need to be reliable with the ladies."

"I find that hard to believe. If you can't even drink a drink Alexander, how the hell are you gonna manage a love life? What are we going to do with you?"

Alexander stood quiet for a moment before speaking.

"I don't know Laf," he smiled, looking down towards the ground until his eyes darkened for a moment, a slight frown appearing. "I don't know."

 

* * *

 

Winter broke out with a sudden abruptness, the chilling air giving a tingling sensation as the warm temperatures of the early fall began to dwindle away. The city was no longer filled with it's usual hustle and bustle state and became like a ghost-town instead, the streets surprisingly lonely. People tended to stay indoors to escape the blithering chilly weather, whilst the days were cut short as the night reigned longer.

Lafayette was just glad that meant shorter working hours for him and less customers. On the contrary, that meant he spent more time alone and as an extrovert that wasn't necessarily good news. But luckily for him, he lived in a time where things such as phones existed and so long as Alexander had his phone on him, Lafayette wasn't going to feel the slightest bit bored.

Alexandre Jambon  
  
**Today** 11:31 PM  
I bet twenty bucks Burr is going to die alone  
  
I haven't even seen him _stand_ near a girl, let alone talk to her  
  
**Today** 11:33 PM  
mdr  
  
as much as I want to agree with you _mon allié,_ I think he'll get someone eventually  
  
and that's coming from _moi, l'expert de l'amour_ __  
  
yeah yeah, we'll see who's right  
  
spoilers it's gonna be me  
  


__

But while he was enjoying his time with Alex, he couldn't help but wonder when it would soon end. He was old enough to know not everything lasted forever, no matter how much one could wish.

He had experienced that, when he was younger. His father had died in a shooting accident, and therefore he had to grow up without one. Even though Lafayette never knew him quite well, he still felt the pain his mother had felt and would often pray everynight in hopes he would come back, or at least hope his mother would never leave him alone. That too, didn't really work out since she soon left to Paris and Lafayette was brought up by his grandmother.

He didn't hate his grandmother, he actually thoroughly enjoyed her company but it wasn't the same feeling as being brought up by your _parents._

Putting aside the painful memories, Lafayette tried to imagine where he was going. Would he still be aimlessly wandering through life helplessly, unable to live out his life to the fullest with all that potential bottled up inside of him?

Such questions like that he didn't know the answer to. And part of him didn't want to seek out the truth either.

With one finger hovering above the phone's keyboard, he was about to tap in a quick reply to Alex when a new message popped up. 

ah shit  
  
I have to go finish off this last paragraph  
  
it's really important, so give me a moment  
  
actually, give me like ten hours  
  
don't die in the meantime  
  
_ferme ta bouche, Alexandre_  
  
_chut toi-même, Lafayette_  
  


With a satisfied click the phone switched off, and Lafayette set about busying himself with something before he succumbed to the inevitable boredom. The first thing he thought of was turning on Netflix, and watching some sort of romantic film— a french one if possible.

But knowing him he probably had already watched all the avaliable ones so far. 

That didn't stop Lafayette from taking the remote and choosing the first one he saw before plopping down on the couch tiredly. Hauling a blanket from the other side, he dragged it over him as he curled up tightly, watching as the movie played out.

It was quite a dramatic love story, where the two main characters ended falling out of touch after the pressure on having to end their friendship due to some other circumstances.

_In the end, everything must end despite not wanting it to._

So far, everything recently had been leading up to that. His dying friendship with John, the thought of Alexander leaving him and even his parents, a thought he promised himself he would never touch again.

_So when will I end?_

Halfway through, Lafayette felt himself shrink even further. This was meant to be a romance film, and all there was so far were tears and fears coming to life. If he was honest with himself, he knew that he wasn't the best at keeping his emotions in control but this was beginning to get too much. He teared up a little sometimes too, delicately pulling a tissue from the box on the table in front of him.

His hair had loosened itself from his bun, loose strands hanging over his face as he began to get more and more distressed. He fiddled with them as a sort of comfort, as a reminder to tell himself that this was in fact a movie, and that he was certainly much stronger when he had heard a noise.

A sudden noise.

A knock had sounded out through the darkness.

The knock was barely audible the first time, and Lafayette wasn't even sure he had heard it or he was just hearing things. When he heard it louder for a second time, it became more apparent that he wasn't and someone was out there. He thought about the possibilities of who it could be. He certainly didn't have anyone planned to come round. Therefore, it must have been someone like the postman, or maybe the tax-collector.

Groggily getting up, he unsteadily stormed his way to the front door. He was too pissed and upset and full of emotions to answer the door politely and when he finally opened it, it all came out as just an annoyed slurred question.

 _"Je n'ai pas d'argent sur moi! Casse-toi, s'il te plait. Merci beaucoup_ motherfucker!"

He looked up to see who in fact he was talking to. His eyes met with a clearly built muscular man that looked like he could shred him in an instance. He panicked.

"What?"

Layafette instantly set about trying to fix the situation. Using the only excuse he knew would work, always had worked.

_"Je ne parle pas anglais."_

The guy just blinked at him confusedly, before looking awkwardly at a piece of paper he was holding and scrapping it to the side. He took a deep breath and spoke.

"I would like to stay with you. Can you err, understand me?"

Lafayette's head was just a series of  _'whatdoidowhatdoidowhatdoidowhatdoido'_ before the man spoke up again. He used a series of hand gestures to convey his message.

"Me. Living with you. Okay?"

"I can understand you." Lafayette confessed, making the other guy more confused than ever. "Forget what I said earlier, I..."

"I'm disturbing you, right? Sorry. I'll go then." he said solemnly, before turning away dejected. Lafayette spoke up.

"No no, you're not disturbing me. Continue."

The man looked round, staring into Lafayette's eyes like he was staring into his soul.

"For reasons I cannot explain, I need to erm, live with someone." he explained. "If you don't accept me I understand why because not everyone takes a stranger in, but recently it's been... kinda rough."

He took a step towards Lafayette. Now closer, Lafayette could notice the details on his worn face, eyebags clearly visible. His clothes were torn near the edges and Lafayette felt guilty. It would be wrong to turn this man away.

Yet he could barely get by just with himself. There was no way he could manage with another person.

"It won't be forever, only a couple of days if you want." he added. "I'd do anything—"

"Come in." Lafayette said, almost desperately. "I'll help you. Whatever you want."

The man let out a laugh of relief before shoving his hand forward so suddenly that it took a bit for Lafayette to process what was actually going on. 

"Hercules Mulligan."

Lafayette took it, matching the smile on Hercules' face. His palm was rough, calloused, so unlike Lafayette's own silk smooth one and Lafayette internally frowned. He would have to definitely improve this man's current state.

"My friends know me as Lafayette, charmer of ladies." he smirked, motioning for Hercules to kick off his shoes and started to lead him into the house. "Although that's not to say men aren't charmed by me as well."

Hercules only laughed. "I'm sure you are."

The first thing Lafayette did with Herc, was he sat him down at the kitchen table whilst he ran to get him a cup of hot chocolate. He took the blanket he was curled up in earlier and instead offered it to Herc, which he took thankfully. When passed the drink (which Lafayette made sure was complete with marshmallows, topped with some whipped cream), Herc tried to insist he didn't want it and that he was fine, but Lafayette protested that the man should drink to help him warm up over the bitter weather outside.

"I'm not going to drink it if you don't." Lafayette retorted as a defeated Hercules took the drink. He stared at it for a while, before glancing at Lafayette one last time as if to ask 'are you really sure?'. And even when Laf said yes, he only took a tiny sip, just in case.

Lafayette leaned forward in anticipation, awaiting his response. "How is it?"

"It's good... really good." he said, holding it with two hands, close to him. "Thank you, from the bottom of my heart."

"It's nothing."

"I mean it. It takes a lot to get up from your busy work to go help out a stranger at the door begging for a place to stay."

Lafayette was going to point out that crying over Netflix did not count as 'busy work' but realised it might have sounded really stupid to say, _'Oh no, I was just crying over Netflix so you didn't disturb me at all.'_ Instead he shrugged it off like it was nothing.

Eventually Hercules ended up drinking every last drop, and Lafayette applaused him as Herc gave a beam of pride. Lafayette offered to show Herc to his room straight afterwords since it was pretty late and the man looked like he needed the sleep badly anyway. The two walked up the stairs.

Which is when Lafayette realised he didn't have two bedrooms, only one with a double bed. This led to a whole array of options, most of them ending pretty badly until Lafayette decided to do what he thought was the right thing.

"You can stay here." he said whilst opening his bedroom door. "I figured that a guest like you deserves a luxurious night's sleep."

Hercules stood in awe at the room after he had stepped in. It was a very modern, clean area, a four poster bed (Lafayette really loved his sleep) bang centre to the wall with various mirrors along the sidewall. His fingers trailed along the furniture, before sitting himself on the bed, hands to himself as if to not take up as much space as possible.

This room was in fact Lafayatte's usual room. Lafayette's room was his own little precious place, different from the rest of the cluttered house. It was where he could relax and be free, whereas places such as the livingroom screamed at him about his responsibilities like cleaning up the place for once.

"Here? Really?"

"Just take the damn room."

Herc smiled again as Lafayette explained where all the rooms were. Then tomorrow morning, Lafayette would help him pick out some new clothes because he was not going around like that.

"But I don't have any money to pay you back with...?" Herc asked as Lafayette shook his head like it was the silliest thing he'd ever heard.

"I am paying for you, of course."

Herc stood up as if he wasn't physically going to let Lafayette do that for him, and Lafayette only gladly sat him back down as soon as the man got up. Herc mumbled something in response, and Lafayette smirked.

"If you have any questions, I'll answer them tomorrow.  _Je vais dormir maintenant_ _."_ he said in a hushed voice.

"Of course." Herc replied. "I'm sorry to keep you up."

" _'I'm sorry, I'm sorry!'_ " Lafayette mocked him playfully. "You don't _need_ to be sorry. It's fine."

He walked over to the door, holding the handle before looking one last time at Herc.

_"Bonne nuit, dormez bien."_

Herc gave Lafayette a grateful nod as he closed the door gently, letting go as he departed to retire for the night.

He wandered down the stairs, a distant smile still on his lips as he made his way to the couch and fell onto it. He didn't want to tell Hercules that he had given his own room to Herc whilst he was going to sleep on the couch because the poor man probably would have felt bad. If anything, Lafayette intended to make sure these few nights that Hercules would be staying were to the highest standard.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He focused on the warmness of the fabric, how the couch smelt refreshingly new.

If this was God giving him a chance to help change his life, he was going to take it. No matter the cost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully this gets updated every three to four days.  
> Also historical notes: Lafayette's father did die when he was only one from being stuck by a cannon-ball. He was brought up by his grandmother 'till the age of eleven.  
> Anyway, I hope you're enjoying reading this. It's not perfect, and I plan to come back and change some aspects of it in the future.  
> I promise that I'll make y'all proud <3


	3. Chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lafayette tries to pull through a dark pool of deprecating thoughts. Losing your mind is hard and Lafayette doesn't risk losing his chance to change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> French Translations:  
> Est-ce que tu as bien dormi? = Did you sleep well?  
> Celui-ci? = This one?

The first thing Lafayette noticed when he was awake was that he could spread his arms wide out and they didn't reach the side of the sofa. There was a sense of freedom, as he tried to stretch out as far as he could to test the boundaries.

There were no boundaries as far as he could tell.

And then he opened his eyes which gave way to the light that fell into his eyes. He rubbed them for a few seconds, adjusting to this new found brightness before examining the room more closely.

He felt with his hand upwards, to touch a pillow that was laying there. When he looked up, he could see the poles of the bed extending to the ceiling as the familiar flowery scent of his room filled his nostrils.

Pushing himself up, he looked about, perplexed. He could have sworn he had left Herc here, and that he was sleeping downstairs on the couch. In fact, where was Herc? The man he had just taken in recently...

_Perhaps it was just a dream..._

An illusion, made up to combat his loneliness. He couldn't handle the reality of it all and instead conjured up someone to entertain him, to show him something soon. Soon, he would go to work and meet Burr, reading a newspaper and waiting for his haircut, and then he'd probably text John- no, Alexander now and keep working. Occasional breaks would be taken but in the end, it's all the same.

You see the same faces, you do the same tasks. You wear the same clothes and you put up a mask of that same happy expression.

He didn't want to go downstairs and be disappointed to see no-one there.

But there was just a tiny bit of hope that maybe, just maybe, that this itself was a dream, and that he was actually downstairs. It could also be wishful thinking but...

He wouldn't know the answer until he tested his answer out.

So, Lafayette pulled the covers over him and drowned himself with sleep.

When Lafayette woke up again a couple of hours later and was met with the sight of the bed again, he felt a pit of disappointment at the bottom of his stomach. He picked up the pillow he had felt from earlier, trying to make sense of himself before frustratingly throwing it against the wall. It was simply too good to be true that his life would have changed overnight. Nothing can change overnight. Lafayette wasn't lucky enough to be blessed with that kind of luck.

People like John, Jefferson, born to be privileged folks could just walk around. They didn't have to worry about being fucked over with the goddamn taxes and they didn't have to worry about getting by. Money can buy you many things, luxuries, friends and even a lover.

Good looks can only get you so far.

Lafayette had no doubt about his appearance, for he was frequently complimented on them. He was practically showered with compliments, and had no problem picking up chicks, luring them in with his words and skills. Yet when the romantic mood gets killed, and it's just him and them, the conversation frequently ends up dying and stopping abruptly.

At least if you had money, they'd stay for the money.

Lafayette rubbed his temple, letting out a groan of frustration. 

He needed to go for a walk to clear his mind before he got too mad. Or, his personal favourite, a bubble bath surrounded by scented candles.

Hesitantly, he got up and walked down the steps as slowly as possible. Today he had the day off, and he was going to make it the best damn day he ever had.

As he made it downstairs, the distant blare of the TV was heard. He probably didn't turn it off from yesterday.

When he turned the corner and saw Hercules Mulligan sitting upright intensely staring at the television Lafayette gave a gasp of relief. This promptly made Herc turn round, a bowl of cereal laying in his hand as he smiled.

"Good morning err..."

He looked over for a moment at a piece of paper, before turning back around again.

"... Monsieur Lafayette.  _Est-ce que tu as bien dormi?"_

Lafayette found himself choking back non-existant tears. 

 _"Bien. Merci."_ he replied, voice cracking a little due to the fact that one: Herc had put effort into trying to speak french to him and  two: the reassurance of the situation.

So he had been worrying over nothing, and he looked up as relief swept over him. He silently prayed a quick _'thank you'_ from within his head to no-one in particular.

"Do you usually sleep late?" Herc started. "I do too, but usually not that long..."

 _"Quoi?"_ he blinked, puzzled.

"It's like two in the afternoon." Herc replied as if it was the obvious, eyebrows furrowing as Lafayette blankly stared.

_Oh._

Lafayette looked at Herc, then at the bowl of cereal which he held. 

"How come you're still eating breakfast then?"

"I've been eating really slowly. That, and I got up at eleven. I'm nearly finished anyway."

He showed Lafayette the bowl for proof, and he did confirm that it was almost gone. He then realised it might have been a bit rude to just let Lafayette keep standing, so he moved up and motioned for Lafayette to sit next to him.

Lafayette did nothing but stare at Herc for a bit, causing some weird glances from Herc.

"Erm, am I doing something wrong-?"

Hercules Mulligan was doing everything except doing something wrong. For him to think that he was upsetting Laf in some way was.. intriguing to say the least. The fact that Herc was worried that he was doing something wrong was strange. The man looked so confident, so sure of himself in terms of appearance but now talking to him it seemed like that was out of the question.

Putting it simply, Hercules Mulligan looked like the type who could beat you up in an instance. And he certainly wasn't acting like it.

Laf pursed his lips in thought, before breaking the silence.

"How are you real?"

"What?"

The two just stared wordlessly. As he focused, Lafayette could see all of his features and if he reached close enough he could run his hand over them.

Of course Hercules Mulligan was real. His brain couldn't come up with this sort of thing by itself, and if it did then damn Lafayette had a great imagination. Plus Hercules Mulligan felt real. He could feel the heat radiating from him, he could hear the words coming from his lips which by the way seemed pretty chapped. Some lip balm could do it. Yeah, he had a whole bunch of them upstairs. On the subject of that, wasn't he meant to give Herc a make-over?

Unconsciously his hand drifted over and reached out for Herc's lips, rubbing his thumb over it curiously before Herc batted his hand away.

"What the fuck?"

He snapped out of his mindless state and recoiled instantaneously, looking at Herc's face. Surprisingly, though his face practically screamed that this man before him was angry and disgusted at him, his tone of voice seemed to be soft, delicate. As if it were out of delightful surprise instead of repulsiveness.

 _"Pardon,_ I was thinking. You need a make-over."

"Oh!" Herc laughed nervously, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. "I thought you were trying to do something else."

Lafayette wasn't sure exactly what Herc thought he was trying to do, but whatever it was he had a feeling it was negative.

"No no, I was just examining how chapped your lips are. You really need to sort them out."

"I've got no need." Herc admitted. "Nobody's gonna be kissing me, so why do I bother?"

"Don't you want a girlfriend?" Lafayette asked. "Or are you-"

"I want a girlfriend." Herc quickly responded, perhaps a little too quickly. "It's just I find it a bit hard to do so in the current state I'm in."

"Then, let's get you glammed up! Didn't I say we'd go shopping?" Lafayette's eyes lit up, as he took the bowl from Herc. He clapped his hands together whilst Herc had a bewildered look. "We need to hurry, because we're going to be spending a lot of time there."

"You sure changed moods quickly." Herc pointed out whilst Lafayette shrugged.

"It's a make-over. A shopping trip. It's exciting, _non?"_

Herc grinned. "I suppose so. I trust you to do well."

Lafayette took that as a compliment, and practically flew out of the house as Herc trailed behind. Herc seemed to pause, looking up at the blue sky. There seemed to be a sense of serenity in the air. As if he was recalling something. 

It occured to Laf that, it still was a huge mystery who Herc was. And he so desperately wanted answers, but he knew that some people take time to open up.

But he just had to ask.

"Don't you have a car?" Herc finally said after a few moments, bringing Laf back to reality.

Laf let out a nervous laugh, averting his eyes from the sight that was Hercules Mulligan and instead looked out onto the road.

"No... but it  _is_ a short walk to the shopping centre! It's good excercise as well!"

"It's not that I don't want to walk, I'm just surprised. You seem to be loaded with cash."

Lafayette scoffed as they began to head off. "You'd be surprised."

The walk was actually quite entertaining for the two of them. Laf answered most of the questions, mainly because Herc refused to answer any questions about himself. So Lafayette told him about his past, how he worked as a hairdresser and how he had to work to the place he was at today. He didn't want to ask Herc why he wouldn't say and bother him, so he just accepted it.

Besides, Herc seemed more happier as the one asking the questions and finding out more about Lafayette rather than the other way round. And there was no way Lafayette was going to ruin the moment.

When they had eventually reached the centre (it only took them about fifteen minutes) Lafayette dragged Herc around as he took in the sight of just the sheer amount of clothes that were there. The place was incredibly large, and Herc probably spent more of the time looking at all of the space rather much to Lafayette's disappointment.

"It's a shopping trip, not a sight-seeing trip." he commented as Laf pulled out a woolen sweater with the American flag on it out of a rack. It seemed extremely patriotic, the stars and stripes printed on it with some LED lights embellished on the stars. "Celui-ci?"

Herc gave it one look, before shaking his hands vigorously as Laf pressed it to him.

"I think it would suit you very nicely! Blue is your colour, _non?"_ he smirked as Herc rolled his eyes.

"I am  _not_ wearing something as silly as that."

"Come on! Just give it a try? Please?"

"No."

Laf gave him a pout but shoved it in the basket anyway whilst Herc tried to insist it wouldn't work.

"It'll grow on you~" Laf chimed.

"I'd rather wear something else. Like..."

Herc made his way to a rack opposite, taking a black tank-top out of the rack. Laf made a face of disgust.

"That's too plain! Don't you want to be wearing something that makes you stand out?" argued Laf whilst Herc checked the price of it.

"It's much cheaper. And I'd rather blend in with the crowd than be obvious."

Herc handed it over to him, and Laf pulled a face as he reluctantly threw it in.

"I guess we'll have to buy both."

"What? You don't need to buy that sweater!"

But it was too late, because Lafayette was already gone to get even more clothes. He sighed, following as Lafayette ended up choosing three pairs of pants and threw them in. Herc seemed to more thoroughly enjoy those options.

In the end, their basket was practically overflowing with clothes. They didn't have to spend that long there, because Laf's clothes choosing skills allowed them to save a lot of time.

"There. Didn't you enjoy that?" Laf grinned, as he studied Herc's facial expression before a smile crept up onto his face.

"Yeah. It was fun I guess." he quietly said, swinging the bag about as the two walked back. The sun was still high up in the sky, and Laf couldn't help but feel at peace, like it was meant to be.

Not him and Herc _together._

Oh no, they had already established that.

But to have Herc as a friend, was meant to be.

And his thoughts were reaffirmed when later on when Herc came downstairs wearing some of the new clothes, making Laf struggle not to run up to Herc and scream how amazing he looked in them, and at dinner when they had a food fight, and then they decided it wasn't sufficient to call it a draw so they had a pillow fight and...

Hercules Mulligan was _here._ He was his _friend._

And he was going to try his hardest not to fuck it up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, I didn't just abandon this fic. I am so sorry, I kept rewriting this chapter because it felt shit. Nevermind that, it still is shit. I apologise, this won't happen again. I want to do justice to their story. Thank you for waiting patiently <3


	4. Work, Work!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Herc gets taught in the art of hairdressing, making plenty of mistakes, all whilst three young promising women come in with plenty of wealth which Laf sees as a chance for change. And Herc somehow is not at all like the big strong guy Laf first saw him as.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> French Translations:  
> Suivez-moi = Follow me  
> Avez-vous de l'argent? = Do you have any money?  
> Elle fait du bénévolat, surtout pour un orphelinat = She does charity work, mostly for the orphanage  
> Combien d'argent voulez-vous? = How much do you want?  
> Peut être... = Maybe...  
> Je suis désolé = Sorry  
> De rien = No problem

"Okay, s _uivez-moi._ Err, no, see what I'm doing? Herc,  _mon ami,_ _écouter-"_

He was really trying here.

They had decided that it would be good for Herc to gain some work skills. If he didn't end up working for Lafayette permanently at the salon, then at least he could apply these skills elsewhere.

To say it was somewhat going well would be highly optimistic.

Herc dropped the tools he was using in a huff and glared at Laf, his hand clenching into a fist. Once he realised he might be looking a little threatening to Laf, he dropped his attitude. He took a deep breath and tried again.

"I don't know how to do this carefully. I hate being patient."

Lafayette pulled a frown as he watched Herc nervously bite his lip, looking around the room as if there was a chance for him to escape. He didn't want him to feel like this, constantly feeling annoyed with himself because of his inability to be 'dainty'. Laf wasn't exactly the most careful person at the start, it took him a lot of practice to get to where he was now. But he remembered the pain and the stress of all, and when he looked at Herc he wanted nothing more than to take it away.

"It's okay, I didn't like it at first either." Lafayette had said to him about half an hour ago, when the man was clutching his head in despair. "But.. with time..."

_Please don't stress over it._

"... whatever you say." Herc laughed, but it didn't seem like a genuine one, more like one just to get Laf to stop worrying over him.

And Laf obliged.

Herc's eyes started to drift towards the wooden brush laying against the wall, Laf's quick to follow. "Maybe I could... clean up instead? I mean it can't be that hard using a brush."

He frowned again. Herc was just going to feel worse if he kept being subjecting to boring tasks, but there wasn't anything Laf could think of giving the man to do. 

 _"Oui,_ you maybut if you want to change-"

"Pft no, I'll leave all the dainty work to you."

Laf wasn't one hundred percent convinced that Herc really wanted to just brush the store up instead, but as the salon bell gave a dainty ring and the clacking noise of heels sounded against the wooden floorboards, the conversation had to be quickly dropped. They had people to serve and customer satisfaction always comes first. When he had turned around, three young women stood there. The first one was the tallest and had a certain fierce look about her so Laf quickly assumed she was 'The Leader' of the group. Next to her, was a smaller girl, who was dressed very casually, her eyes drifting out onto the road from time to time, presumably from boredom. When her eyes met Laf's, she playfully wiggled her eyebrows to Laf's amusement. And finally, the last one, who's eyes looked sweet and trusting, was grasping a jar in her hands which was filled with various different amounts of coins and notes. She gave him a pleasant smile. 

It was quite an odd way of carrying your money about, but Laf wasn't going to argue.

"Ah!  _Bienvenue, bienvenue."_  he greeted them, holding out his hand for the first woman to shake. "How may we serve you today?"

"Do you have any money to spare for charity?" the girl at the end happily said, and Laf watched at her curiously.

That was certainly not the answer he had been expecting. And usually, don't people asking for money knock on  _houses?_ Not salons.

"...  _pardon?"_ he asked, as if he hadn't fully taken in what the girl had just said.

The first girl stepped forward and spoke again. "Oh, err, _avez-vous de l'argent pour ma sœur?_ _"_ she spoke, a hint of uncertainty lying in her throat. _"_ _Elle fait du bénévolat, surtout pour un orphelinat."_

When she was met with silence, she tried again, lightly laughing.

"My apologies, we don't usually go around knocking from house to house-"

"This is a salon Ange, not a house."

'Ange' gave the smallest a slight glare for her comment before turning back to Laf and Herc.

"...Anyway, my lovely sister Eliza here thinks you two are a charitable pair so how about you donate to charity? It would make her really happy." Eliza gave a small nod in confirmation, holding out the jar a bit.

"Why us?" Herc spoke up, having recovered from his initial state of confusion. "Like that short girl said,"

"Who you calling short motherf-"

"It's a salon, not a house." he continued as she bitterly stared. "Where's it even going anyway? Who are you?"

"It's going to the New York orphanage, it's really quite wonderful helping young kids grow up." Eliza beamed at the two. "The poor children- they wouldn't have anyone to look after them otherwise. Really, I love visiting the area and meeting all the different children, learning their stories. Some of them are truly dreadful and I long to do the best I can in order for them all to grow up safe and healthy. Oh sorry, did I blabber on a bit? My name is Elizabeth Schuyler and I'm here with my sisters Angelica and Peggy."

Laf and Herc exchanged looks between one another, unsure what to do next. For starters, the sisters had just walked in so unexpectedly, asking politely for money, something that Laf wasn't going to give away so easily.

Yet Eliza seemed so genuine, so passionate about the cause from just her tone as she spoke about the orphanage. They all seemed so friendly, and as two guys it wouldn't be so bad handing some pretty women some money just to make them happy. Then again, they didn't really know her, or her sisters even. 

"Do we really trust them?" Herc asked Laf once he had led him to the side, trying to keep his voice low.

"I'm.. not completely sure."

He thought about what John or Alex would do. And speaking of them, he probably ought to catch up with them.

"Maybe they're just 'claiming' to give money to the orphanage." Herc stated. "The people behind it just sent attractive girls so it would make us more likely to pay."

"That's possible... but-"

"So you just gonna give them your money? Just like that?"

But if he thought more about it, back to that night where he saw Herc standing outside of his door, he did give him what these girls wanted. He gave him money, food, clothes and a shelter and he couldn't just give Herc it and not the girls. Well he did, but he wasn't going to admit that to himself.

Yet then again, Herc had looked in a right state, and the more Laf had stared the more he felt the urgency to get the man inside, to take care of him. These three women looked _very_ well off although they were not asking money for themselves. Actually, if they _were_ well off, that would be more the reason to not give since they could pay themselves.

But they probably already are paying a set amount to the orphanage and just want to do more, to do a little extra just to make the children smile.

He locked his eyes with Herc, trying to study what his friend was trying to convey to him. 

If he didn't give, he might miss out on the chance to be friends with these three women, possibly they could be of some assistance to him in the future.

If he hadn't given he wouldn't have met Hercules. And that seemed terrifying.

"... yeah." he finally said, still scanning but Herc's face seemed unreadable to him. 

"For gods sake, just hand us your money."

"Peggy-"

 _"Combien d'argent voulez-vous?"_ Laf quickly asked, walking over to the cash register and unlocking it.

"However much you're willing to give." Angelica smiled as he handed over a crumpled ten dollar bill.

 _"Je suis désolé_ , it's not that much and-"

"Every donation counts and makes such a huge difference." Eliza cut in, pure joy written all across her face. Laf couldn't help but smile back. "Thank you for helping these childrens' lives."

_"De rien."_

Was ten dollars enough though? Was he being generous or inconsiderate?

"If you come back next week, we'll have some more." Laf offered, and Angelica nodded in enthusiasm.

"That'd be nice."

There was a brief pause, before the girls all exchanged a few words and filed out. Peggy stopped for a moment, murmuring something in a hushed tone towards her two sisters, before Angelica gave cleared her throat.

"Sorry, are you closed? I just realised, we never asked."

"Not anymore.  _Pourquoi?"_

She thought for a bit, before discussing with her sisters from more, and looked up at Laf again.

"It's just that while we're here, maybe it'd be nice for us to get haircuts... I don't know.. only if it's not too much trouble? Eliza you want one right?"

"I.. I don't mind particularly. I'd like to have maybe.. a bob haircut?" she shyly said, before adding "only if it's not too much trouble."

Peggy scowled. " _'Do you mind Peggy?' 'Oh, of course, yeah, I don't mind Ange, thank you for being so considerate.'_ "

Angelica rolled her eyes in response, before ruffling her sister's hair as she protested. "I knew you wanted one already silly. You wanted to re-curl your hair right?"

"Well I was just saying..."

The two sister's playful interaction brought a smile to Lafayette's face, and he knew he was going to enjoy these little moments time and time again. That was, if he managed to convince them to come back. He best make a good first impression.

"And you, _mademoiselle?"_ Laf asked to Angelica as he began to lead the girls to their seats, who shook her head.

 _"Non, merci._ Just for my two beloved sisters. Now, which one of you two wants to do Eliza?" she grinned, before she looked at Herc, playing with the brush he had and spinning the top round. With the sudden lack of conversation he in turn looked up, before realising she was directing to him.

"Oh I don't do-"

"I assure you, she's the nicest person you will ever meet."

"Angelica, I'm sure that's not true." Eliza giggled, cheeks getting flushed by the second. An annoyed sigh came from across her.

"Look, I'll have the fit guy, you can take the Frenchie." Peggy winked as she held onto Herc's wrists and dragged him over to where she was sat, grinning wildly. Laf strode up to Herc, but just as Herc thought Laf was about to save him from this terror he handed Herc some curlers whilst mouthing a quick  _'Bonne chance.'_ Herc did not look too happy, but got started on his task anyway as Lafayette returned back to the two other sisters.

"So, what are your names?" Angelica broke in as Laf started to comb through Eliza's hair to get rid of any knots, though it was surprisingly enough quite smooth already. "You know, seeing as we told you ours."

"I'm Lafayette and his name is Hercules." he replied. "What do you three do?"

"Well... we don't actually 'work', but we help Eliza collect money for charity, as demonstrated before."

Three young beautiful women who don't work? Damn, they must be loaded. Imagine, not having to lift up a single finger...

"You three are lucky."

Angelica seemed to scoff at his answer. "I guess you could say we are, yeah. Although I would argue men are more lucky."

"How?"

She immediately shot him a glare that terrified the man. "As if you didn't know. Men are higher up the privilege scale than women, but that's gonna change soon. And if not I'll push and push until it does! You think that women need equal rights too, right?"

"Of course." It didn't take a lot of work to figure out what was best to say. And Lafayette  _did_ agree with her. Even if he didn't, it wouldn't be wise to say that in front of her, for he feared he'd end up being beaten to a pulp.

Lafayette shifted his gaze to Herc, who was diligently working on Peggy. He prayed to God that he'd be alright.

"And him?"

"Of course Herc does too."

An outburst of laughter came out from Peggy, a few little snorts occuring from her. When she realised she was attracting a lot of attention, she only looked shyly away, giving a signal to Herc to continue with his duty. On closer expection, it seemed as if Herc was having trouble getting the hair to stay in the curler for some bizarre reason.

"Hah, I think Peggy likes him."

Lafayette didn't say anything to that, only giving a meek mumble as he took out those shiny metal scissors of his. Every few moments he would turn his attention to Herc- just out of precaution, he convinced himself, only to see him smiling down at Peggy which hastily made Lafayette look away from the incriminating scene. It seemed as if Hercules would get a Schuyler sister quicker than him. Though, he wondered if he ended up wanting a Schuyler sister. Though they all seemed like good suitable candidates, he appeared to want something more though he couldn't quite place his finger on what.

To be honest, he wouldn't mind being with Angelica, and Herc could be with Peggy. In the initial stages they would probably live together before buying their own houses to persue their own personal lives. And then, they'd see each other for meetups and for special holidays like Christmas. Lafayette was always good with presents, knowing exactly what people wanted. He prided in this gift of his. To think of Herc's face when it would light up with joy with the sight of whatever Lafayette would give him...

 _"Merde!"_ he hissed at himself whilst dropping the scissors clumsily, watching as a crimson liquid flowed down his finger. He cursed at himself as he went to go get a tissue from the tissue box laying on the counter, as he heard Eliza drop down to pick up the scissors. She smiled gently as she walked up to him to hand it over.

"Here you go.. wait- are you bleeding?"

"No, I am fine." Laf swiftly burst out, tying the piece around his finger. "Just had a little slip up, nothing to worry about."

"Do you need a plaster? I'm sure I have one in my bag somewhere..."

The girl seemed to be genuinely concerned for his wellbeing, but Laf managed to shake her off. "It's okay, I'm alright."

She passed an apologetic smile instead, returning to her seat. When she turned around, you could clearly see that half of her hair was shorter than the other and Angelica gave another dangerous look to Lafayette that screamed 'fix it now.'

It was suffice to say that he followed her words speedily.

Since the sisters had been brought up being pampered for most of their life, Eliza's hair was actually really healthy and was extremely easy to do. It was shiny and had a lot of volume to it, and when Lafayette was done in a mere matter of moments it was practically radiating through the little salon.

"That was done quick." hummed the elder one, admiring Eliza's short hair as she excitedly checked it out in the mirror. "Ha, you remind me of someone I know actually."

Lafayette looked at her curiously. This person she was describing better have good qualities. "In what way?"

"Always so quick on his feet, polite and humble." she sighed, almost as if she were lost in a distant memory. "The way you managed to get my dear Eliza done- and you cut it perfectly by the way, was incredible."

A light blush crept to his features, a soft laugh emerging. "It's nothing. What's his name, if I may ask?"

"Alexander."

A flashback occured to him. Speaking of Alex, he had been a little bit quiet. Maybe he should really ought to talk with him. But this 'Alexander' seemed to be quite like his own Hamilton, though Alex certainly wasn't polite or humble for that matter.

"What's his last name?"

"Hamilton?" she cautiously said, before Lafayette nodded. What a small world it seemed to be. "Ah, I know him myself."

Her eyes sparkled with hope as she gave that same longing look that he had seen before. "He's pretty charming ain't he?"

"How do you know him?"

"We met him at a party. You?"

"He's a regular at this place. Not been around for long though."

"Then we'll probably bump into him sometime."

The two laughed at the thought of that, before Peggy jumped up out of her seat and gave a loud cheer. Herc looked at her like she was a lunatic, before realising that this was probably usual for Peggy and alternatively shook his head in disbelief. And then his eyes went straight to Laf's as he made for him. He was unsure what exactly Herc wanted from him, before the man expelled a breath.

"Can we end early for today? Man I'm getting tired..."

So strong Hercules Mulligan was not as tough as he looked. He gave a nod.

_"C'est comme tu veux. Dépêche-toi!"_

When he saw Herc's blank stare, he grinned.

"I said it's up to you, and that you should hurry though."

"Oh. Heh, you and your stupid french..." he mumbled, before awkwardly turning away only to be met with a jerking strong embrace around his arms, which turned out to be Peggy laughing from behind his back. He looked away, embarassed at the sight. Luckily before Lafayette could do anything, she pulled away and yelled out a "thank you!" before running back to her sisters, equally giggling in laughter.

"What was that for? Why don't I get one too?" Lafayette huffed, though he was more worried for Herc's sake than for himself.

"We can't stay here forever, so we're going to be heading out now. Peggy just wanted to thank her 'personal stylist' before we left."

"Hey actually, you suggested it Angelica, so shush." her hands firmly on her hips.

"And actually," Angelica replied, mirroring Peggy's posture, "I meant it in a mocking way, it's your fault you didn't understand it."

They both stuck out their tongues at each other whilst Eliza only laughed, leading the two gently away.

"Well, I guess we'll see you two again next time."

"You'll come back?" he asked, only to have Eliza beam at him.

"Consider us regulars."

And with that, the three girls left the shop, a still silence drifting over the shop which was only interrupted by the sounds of Herc nervously shuffling back over to Laf.

"So... what the heck was that."

Laf's lips twitched upwards. "Those were your first ever customers. And buckle up, because there's going to be a lot more _mon ami."_

Herc made a noise of disbelief and confirmation, deciding to revert back to trying to clean up the place.

"Oh and Herc?"

His eyes were filled with hope as he gave a quizzical look, Lafayette smiling brightly.

"I'm impressed. You did a really good job today."

Instead of a smile and a quick gratitude of his compliment Herc instead snorted.

"Nah, it wasn't anything special."

"We'll see about that I guess."

Over the course of the next few hours, the hairdressers seemed to be still, not a single customer arriving in. Occasional words were exchanged between both men, but that tended to be it. Laf just guessed it was going to be one of those quiet days. Well, if nobody was going to come in he might as well end up texting Alex. Not to say that Herc was boring, gosh he was anything but boring. But it did peak his curiousity to ask Alex about anything else about the Schuyler sisters, maybe just how influential their parents were or something along those lines. He hastily took out his phone and started typing.

Alexandre Jambon  
  
**Today** 9:47 AM  
Do you know someone called Angelica?  
  
she says you've met before  
  


Minutes ticked by, and Laf was getting impatient. Okay so he did just send the text seconds ago but really, all Alex had to do was reply with a single 'Yes' or 'No'. It didn't take that long for him to usually reply and he always had his phone on, so it being off was no excuse. So then what?

"You keep glancing at your phone. Who you texting?"

_Some friend too busy for Laf, apparently._

"My friend, Alexander. He's not replying."

"Tch. Give it time! You can't expect someone to reply instantly..."

"But that's the thing, he usually does."

Herc clicked his tongue, staring at Laf's phone screen some more. Laf showed him the past messages that were sent and the timestamps beside them (Herc judged Laf extremely hard for the contents of some of those messages). He regretfully shrugged.

"Yeah, can't help you there man. Good luck with this Alexander dude though. Who knows, maybe you could end up being more than friends."

"Hush!" Laf playfully pushed him, Herc giving that rare smile he only gave sometimes. He could frame it if he could. "No no, we're just good friends."

"That's what they all say. Then they end up being like, 'eh, I think he's kinda hot now!' and bam, they get together. Same ol' shit, y'know?"

"Oh yeah?" Laf challenged him. "How many dudes do you know that ended up being queer-"

"A lot."

He put his hands up in defeat as Herc began to list out people he worked with in the past whilst dabbling a bit onto subjects like his part-time job. Herc claimed he worked as a tailor's apprentice, and worked damn hard from the bottom to get where he was now so there were sort of in the same boat.

"There were times when I felt I couldn't continue, when I couldn't get myself back up. But then I realised a sort of motive I guess, a motive to keep me going."

He looked over to his friend as if needing permission, which Laf gave a signal for him to continue. It was times like this where simply using words would stop the mood.

"I have people that in the future will rely on me. If I stop trying early on, those people won't ever get to recieve help from me and that could be fatal in the long-run. I could actually ruin people's lives. Like I haven't done that already, but I don't plan on hurting anyone intentionally. I know, surprising.."

Herc got more and more discouraged. Why did he keep doing that? It wasn't as if someone was actively telling him to keep saying negative stuff about himself. So..

"Why do you keep putting yourself down like that?"

A brief paused occured, Herc fumbling over words, furrowing his eyebrows as he tried to come out with the perfect sentence to convey his feelings. Just what was going on in his mind?

"In the past, I did some bad things Laf. Things I try to push away but keep coming to haunt me in the darkest hours of the night."

Lafayette was going to speak up, ask more and in the least console him but Herc seemed to get up just before he could reach out and the moment was lost.

"It's getting late. Could we go home?" he asked, reaching for the sign at the front and turned it from an 'Open' to a 'Closed'.

"Yes." was all he could say, as he too got up and reached for his coat hanging up on the rack. Herc never brought up the subject afterwards, and Laf didn't want to upset him and bring back painful memories by asking again, so Laf had to draw up his own conclusions.

The most likely answer was that Herc was probably exaggerating a lot and in reality what he did was probably steal a sweet from a kid or something. Well, that seemed to be a poor example since Herc looked like he couldn't hurt a fly now that Laf had spent some time with him, but really what else was there that Herc could have done?

"Are you gonna stand there all day or am I gonna have to pick you up and carry you to your place?"

He felt hot at the image of Herc carrying him all the way to the house, bridal style and tried his hardest to dispell that thought as quick as he could.

 _'For another time_ _'._ he managed to tell himself, nodding and following Herc as they walked outside, the salon door clicking shut behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's getting quite hectic doing these among with the piles of work that is gradually building up overtime, but as always, as my personal promise to you, I will never give up on this fanfic. If it takes a goddamn year or even longer to finish it, consider it done, because I will never be satsified until it's complete. Thank you. Did I mention that I always write these as soon as I post a chapter, but I never upload them till a month later? I know, it's strange.  
> And on top of that, I have been sucked back into one of my old fandoms and am currently reminiscing about my OTP which I have sorely missed, but I will try to stay focused! (・ω・｀)  
> Also after writing this I realised this is my longest chapter. So erm, yay? This is to make up for the long wait I guess!  
> Side Note: If I recall, while Lafayette was stuck in prison, Angelica wrote to Jefferson asking if he could help free Laffy. So, they were historically friends. ~~Maybe Herc will be jealous idk I haven't planned this into that much detail yet.~~

**Author's Note:**

> This story will be focused on the adventures of Lafayette and Hercules. After I finish this, I will post another story, but this time in Alex's perspective. You'll see how they all interact with each other, and how things change. And after that, if I am still passionate about it, I'll probably illustrate the lot too. Thanks for joining me on this new adventure, let's tell their story.


End file.
